Quatrain: There are many different forms of poetry. In elementary school, you may have heard or read poems that are made up of the common quatrain - a four line stanza,usually with a rhyming scheme like abab or abba. For instance,
I'll tell you the story of Jimmy Jet -
And you know what I tell you is true.
He loved to watch his TV set
Almost as much as you.
excerpt from "Jimmy Jet and His TV Set" by Shel Silverstein
Famous ballads and the sonnets of Shakespeare also contain quatrains.
But there are many other forms of text and visual poetry, such as:
Haikus: Each poem is made up of 3 unrhymed lines,often relating to nature in some way; the first and last lines are 5 syllables and the middle line is 7 syllables.
In the rains of spring,
An umbrella and raincoat
Pass by, conversing.
"Spring Rain" by Buson
Acrostic: These poems can be long or short, rhyming or not, but the first letter of each line together has to form a word or phrase which is usually what the poem is describing.
Does
Only
Good
by Annonymous
Visual Poetry: Poems whose text or shape of words creates a visual image. Concrete or shape poetry is one example of a type of visual poetry. You will learn more about concrete poetry and even create your own during this Poetry Lit Cafe.
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWpMB6gmBYA